"""A generic interface to all dbm clones. Instead of import dbm d = dbm.open(file, 'rw', 0666) use import anydbm d = anydbm.open(file) The returned object is a dbm, gdbm or (on the Mac) dbmac object, dependent on availability of the modules (tested in this order). It has the following interface (key and data are strings): d[key] = data # store data at key (may override data at # existing key) data = d[key] # retrieve data at key (raise KeyError if no # such key) del d[key] # delete data stored at key (raises KeyError # if no such key) flag = d.has_key(key) # true if the key exists list = d.keys() # return a list of all existing keys (slow!) Future versions may change the order in which implementations are tested for existence, add interfaces to other db-like implementations (e.g. BSD Hash), and (in the presence of multiple implementations) decide which module to use based upon the extension or contents of an existing database file. The open function has an optional second argument. This can be set to 'r' to open the database for reading only. Don't pas an explicit 'w' or 'rw' to open it for writing, as the different interfaces have different interpretation of their mode argument if it isn't 'r'. """ try: import dbm def open(filename, mode = 'rw'): return dbm.open(filename, mode, 0666) except ImportError: try: import gdbm def open(filename, mode = 'w'): return gdbm.open(filename, mode, 0666) except ImportError: import dbmac open = dbmac.open